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Rosewood
Named Rosewood Gate in 1866, which was the year after the railway opened from Ipswich to Grandchester. The Rosewood tree (Acacia Fasciculifera) was once plentiful in this area. A huge tract of land from Marburg to Lowood was named the Rosewood Scrub and was the center of an early timber industry. Donald Coutts obtained a license to depasture stock in this area in 1844. By 1846, it was officially known as the Rosewood Run with a carrying capacity of one sheep per acre.
Rosewood was a stopping place on the first railway line which opened in 1865. A gatehouse was built for a gatekeeper and later a stationmaster was appointed and a station built. Although the town progressed slowly at first, a school, churches and hotels were built. The first agricultural show was held in 1877.
A major sale of town blocks took place in 1907. Just seven years later, in January 1914, a huge fire destroyed nine buildings in the main street, causing a glow that could be seen from Ipswich. The fire started in Frazers Boot Shop and also destroyed H. Weidt's Rosewood Hotel, the Royal Bank, A Fites Confectioner and Greengrocer, GB Tomlin chemist, Pend and Hall Auctioneers, Mrs. Hohnke fruiterer and two empty shops of JW Evans. Most of the businesses were rebuilt within about 18 months, producing a precinct of buildings of much the same age. In spite of this setback, the town continued to progress as a sawmilling centre and a receiving centre for local produce, with coal mining boosting local employment.
Electricity was connected in the town in December 1931. The prosperity of the town is reflected in its buildings including the Rising Sun Hotel, St Brigid's Church and several fine houses.
References (offline)Expanded Ipswich Heritage Study (1997)References (online)Rosewood Scrub Historical SocietyRosewood History Group